US sales figures put Wii at top, but PS3 improving

NPD Group research has calculated that 436,000 Wii units were sold in January in the US against 294,000 for Xbox 360 and 244,000 for PS3. According to the FT, market analyst Merrill Lynch is now predicting that by the year 2011, a third of all Japanese households and almost 30 per cent of all US households will own a Wii.

This may sound bad for Sony, but Gamesindustry.biz has a different spin on the story. The sales have helped the PlayStation business to record revenues of USD550 million, which is reasonable. "With supply levels stabilising, you can expect to see increased marketing for PS3 and PS2 in weekly retail circulars, which should garner strong numbers, boosted by big software launches, such as MotorStorm and Virtua Fighter 5," mentioned David Karraker, director of corporate communications for SCEA.

PS2 figures for the month were 299,352 units - with God of War 2 and Okami hanging around it should hold in there for a few months yet.